October 10, 2012

ATLANTA, Ga. - The Great South Athletic Conference announced the fall

sports week five Players of the Week on Wednesday morning and student-athletes from Spelman, Covenant and Salem were selected as winners through exclusive voting by the league sports information directors. Stephanie Hubbard (Sanford, NC) from Salem receives the honors this week for soccer. This is the 3rd time out of the first 5 weeks that a Salem soccer player has been GSAC Player of the Week.

Week 5 Women's Soccer Player of the Week – junior defender Stephanie Hubbard of Salem College
Hubbard (Sanford, NC) anchored a defense that recorded 3 shutouts in a 4-0 week for the Spirits. Hubbard also scored 2 goals and added an assist this week for 5 points. Salem defeated Warren Wilson, Methodist, Huntingdon, and Wesleyan to improve to 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the Great South.

Week 5 Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week - freshman runner Heather Smith of Spelman College
Smith for the second straight week finished first at the meet in which she competed. Her 5k time of 19:50.68 was a season-best for Smith. She and teammate Kamila Nemcova went one, two to give Spelman a fifth place overall win. and win Smith her second consecutive Runner of the Week award.

Week 5 Volleyball Player of the Week – junior DS Estes Carlson of Covenant College
Carlson had a tremendous week averaging 22 digs per match (just over 5 digs a set) in helping Covenant get two wins. The junior libero had a season-high 36 digs in a five-set, come-from-behind victory over Asbury. Carlson also added four kills during the week to earn the Player of the Week nod.

The GSAC sports information directors nominate Player of the Week candidates and then vote on the top two nominees in each sport as selected by the conference office. Player of the Week voting occurs on Tuesdays and the weekly announcement of the winners is released each Wednesday morning.